The edge of the World

I'm just south of Uvita on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The area is a national park called Marino Ballena, a meeting point for whales from the northern and southern hemispheres. It is probably a testament to how beautiful the area is that I am still not in Panama...

I'd agreed to meet Ricardo at 8am Monday morning, the plan being to try to get my brake pads and then I could have a good chance at getting all the way from San Jose to David, in Panama, before sunset. The first part went pretty well, Ricardo led me over to a local Suzuki dealer on his bike and at a cost equivalent to buying a new set of tyres, I got the brake pads and also picked up an oil filter so I could do an oil change. Having Ricardo around to translate what I needed was a real bonus, I'd have struggled otherwise. He also told the parts guys all about my trip. They asked how many miles the original pads had done, and when I answered 14,000 there were a few gasps and whistles. I laughed and with the aid of a few hand signs explained that there was not much of them left ;)

Ricardo told me he would ride with me a few kilometers out of town so that he knew I was on the right road. The roads were not obvious so I was really glad of his assistance. He'd already told me something of the route ahead, and mentioned that I should follow the coast road down to Panama. Ricardo insisted on paying my 100 colone toll and stayed with me past Cartago, and soon we saw the massive bulk of Cerro de la muertes approaching. Cerro de la muertes (literally "dead hill") was so named apparently because it is 3,400m high and many people have died from exposure. Ricardo had said it might take 45 minutes to cross it. He stayed with me well onto the mountain, past a couple of fresh land slides being cleared by JCB, until finally it was too cool for him to continue in shirtsleeves. We pulled over and shook hands, despite only knowing him for a couple of days I felt like I was losing an old friend. I'd told Ricardo that I would certainly return to Costa Rica, next time by plane ;) and he had told me there would be a bike waiting. What a great guy.

Continuing on alone I upped the pace and my thoughts turned inward for a bit, until I suddenly realised that the bottom part of my vision had a purply tint. Some deep breaths seemed to sort it out, but shortly afterward my teeth hurt again and I started to get a little muscle pain in some old injury areas. After the summit the road dropped through thick fog enshrouded forest, dripping moss and vines hanging from the trees and rivers with small waterfalls. The pains vanished and I thought it was probably an important lesson for the Andes - don't climb too fast.

I found the road down to Dominical on the coast easily, and after another climb there was a sudden descent and the Pacific Ocean lay before me. I silently thanked Ricardo again as the road was well maintained and beautiful - on the left there was rainforest, with waterfalls, palms, flowers and the odd Coatimundi (kind of equivalent to a Racoon) and on the right the Pacific was visible through palm trees. Passing Uvita I was getting a sinking feeling as black clouds were looming and I knew I had several hours riding ahead of me, and I hate to admit it but on seeing a sign for a decent hotel I suddenly heard the voice of Alec Guinness in my head saying "run Luke, run". So I did.

I was still in the process of checking in when the rain started, and I got a bit of a soaking just collecting the luggage off the bike. I ended up sitting outside my room on a covered balcony, looking at the rain (which lasted all afternoon and most of the night) and feeling really rather smug :)

Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and as I needed to call my Dad on his birthday I thought I'd take the day off (as you do). I figured I would wander down to take some pictures of the Pacific Ocean in the sun. A twenty minute walk through the rainforest past lines of Leaf Cutter ants, brightly coloured birds and butterflies and faint floral smells got me to the beach which was part of the national park. The beach was pristine, acres of sand and not a person in sight. The Pacific surf rolled in and crashed against rocky outcrops, the western edge of the world. I turned left and set off for a wander.

I thought I saw a whale blowing out to sea, but it turned out to be a huge Frigate bird dive bombing some fish. Another flew along the edge of the beach where it met the rainforest. Pelicans also flew low over the waves, and whilst I stared into the sun at them I suddenly realised I had forgot to put on any sunblock. For someone that goes from pale white to third degree burns in about half an hour this was not good. I'd brought an umbrella so ended up using it as a parasol, at least until an American lady walking her dogs showed up. We got chatting and she was telling me about what it was like to live next to that incredible beach, whilst one of her Alsatians kept sticking it's muzzle into my groin, and the other kept rolling up a huge coconut for me to throw.

By the time we went our separate ways I could feel my feet and legs burning, so I turned back until some rustling in the trees brought me to a halt. Sure enough there were some Cappuchin monkeys picking (and mostly dropping) fruit. Passing back into the rainforest I noticed more movement and realised that there was an entire family of monkeys in the trees above my head. I wasn't sure if they were maybe Howlers, but through a combination of stealth and a long lens I managed to get some photos.


That evening at dinner I sat listening to calling frogs in the rainforest, a sort of combination croak/quack/honk, as well as the usual chicadas and the rain. Small lizards chased insects, some of which looked just like leaves. The Costa Ricans have a motto "Pura Vida" - pure life. And that is just what Costa Rica offers, unfenced existence.

Frase.